I noticed Sunday evening that the sound of the water splashing against theside of the ship was a little different. We had finally hit a large patchof sea ice! It was truly a gorgeous evening. The skies were clear, andthe moon and stars were shining brightly. Unfortunately, the darkness didnot lend to good photography, but here is a long exposure image that lookskind of cool.

The morning came clear and beautiful. We were still moving through patchesof pancake ice. Pancake ice is the first stage of ocean freezing. As thewater gets colder, little pancakes freeze together to form bigger pancakes,and eventually form sheets. On a clear morning, it's absolutely stunning.

Since we are below the Antarctic circle, the sun is only up for a veryshort period of time. The sun only makes it up around a finger's widthfrom the horizon, even at noon. The following was taken after luncharound 12:30:

We are still in transit to Station G, with an ETA of 6:00 AM on the 15th. Most of us are chomping at the bit to get some work started. Luckily, withthe ice and the good weather, the sea state is very calm. This isimportant, because many of our sampling procedures go much quicker andeasier in calm seas.